Niger Crisis: ECOWAS Parliament divided over military option

The ECOWAS Parliament was on Saturday divided over taking military action as an option aimed at tackling the political situation in Niger Republic and restoring civil rule there. Some members called for actions that would nip the military incursion into politics within the region, while others identified diplomacy and dialogue as the best approaches to tackling the crisis. No fewer than 22 parliamentarians participated in the virtual extraordinary meeting to discuss the political crisis in Niger. Some members who were against military intervention highlighted the economic woes that the people of Niger could experience if invaded. Ali Djibo, from Niger Republic, said already at least 9,000 schools had been shut down owing to the crisis. “War will only compound the economic woes the peoples of the sub-region are already going through. “As we speak, over a thousand trucks, loaded with goods, are stranded at the border. “If a coup happened in Nigeria or Cote’d’Iviore tomorrow, where’s the ECOWAS going to mobilise troops to fight the Nigerian or Ivorian military? How many borders are we going to close? “We must also bear in mind that if we’re applying the ECOWAS treaty, it should be applicable to all.” Awaji-Inombek Dagomie Abiante (Rivers), ECOWAS must pay keen attention and treat the root causes of coups in ECOWAS countries Members of the ECOWAS Parliament making a case for military intervention in Niger said diplomacy had contributed in no small measure to the increase in the spate of military takeover of government in the West African sub-region. Contributing, Adebayo Balogun, posited that ECOWAS leaders were proposing military action to remove the junta, and not clamouring for a fully-fledged war. He recalled that Niger was a signatory to the ECOWAS’ revised protocol on non-military intervention. Also, Bashir Dawodu expressed the belief that the body should open itself up to the possibility of a military option and apply pressure on the junta while also exploring dialogue.

Niger Crisis: ECOWAS Parliament holds extra-ordinary session

The ECOWAS Parliament will on Saturday, August 12 hold a virtual Extra-Ordinary Session to exhaustively discuss the recent political developments in the Republic of Niger. This is contained in a statement by the Communications Division of the parliament. The parliament said that within the context of giant changes that occurred in the politico-economic spectrum of the world in the late 1980s, several ECOWAS member states were motivated to take decisive steps towards achieving peace and security through the development of democracy and good governance by the early 1990s. “Thus, the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance came into force in 2001, marking an important stage in the sub-region’s political development. “Military regimes and one-party systems caved in for the emergence of multi-Party democracies. “Nevertheless, recent political developments in the region are pointing toward a reversal of the political gains of the past two decades. “There is a resurgence of unconstitutional changes of government through military coup d’etat, as recorded in four Member States of the sub-region, namely: the Republics of Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and most recently, Niger,’’ the parliament observed. It said consequent upon such developments, the day-long session would see the 115-member parliament considering the emerging developments, following the unconstitutional change of government by the military of the Republic of Niger. Niger’s military last month imprisoned President Mohamed Bazoum and assumed power, drawing condemnation from international powers and raising the spectre of further conflict in the impoverished Sahel region of West Africa which is already overrun by a deadly Islamist insurgency. The ECOWAS Parliament has a total of 115 seats and 14 Standing Committees. Each member state is guaranteed a minimum of allotted five seats, with the remaining 40 seats distributed in proportion to the population of each country. Consequently, Nigeria has a total of 35 seats, followed by Ghana with eight seats. Côte d’Ivoire is allotted seven seats, while Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Senegal have six seats respectively. The remaining ECOWAS member states, namely Benin, Cabo Verde, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Togo, have allotted to each of them, five seats.